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Two Principled Republicans Located.

For a while now, I've been wondering whether a prominent Republican with something to lose -- like a 2012 presidential candidate -- might come out and condemn the ugly turn the GOP is taking, with its new obsessions over the Islamic center near Ground Zero and repealing the 14th Amendment so little brown kids born in America wouldn't get to be citizens. We may not have seen that yet, but this, via Think Progress, is at least something:

Mark McKinnon is an extremely rich and successful media consultant who used to be a Democrat, and was something of a fan of Barack Obama, so it's not all that surprising coming from him. As for Joe Scarborough, he's a television host, and finding places to demonstrate independence from your party is good business. It's not that I doubt his sincerity -- it's just that it isn't as though he's risking his future by calling out his fellow Republicans. Nevertheless, we should give them credit for taking this stance. Scarborough notes that although he hasn't changed any of his opinions from when he was known as one of the most conservative members of the GOP's class of 1994, "I am feeling further and further distant from the people who are running my party ... we're the party that's supposed to relish the Constitution ... and here we are in 2010 trying to revoke the 14th Amendment ... if the President just says they have the right to worship as they wish, it's called 'pandering to radical Islam' ... this is madness."

About the Author

Paul Waldman is the Prospect's daily blogger and senior writer. He also blogs for the Plum Line at the Washington Post, and is the author of Being Right is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success.